Background material for upcoming ENJN conference in Berlin - Part Two

Background material for upcoming ENJN conference in Berlin - Part One

ENJN conference on Fall of Berlin Wall 20th Anniversary

404 law

Ukrainian mass media during elections

New rules of communication of media with the police are introduced in Belarus

Threatened Voices: Tracking suppression of online free speech

Global Voices Advocacy is launching a new website called Threatened Voices to help track suppression of free speech online. It features a world map and an interactive timeline that help visualize the story of threats and arrests against bloggers worldwide, and it is a central platform to gather information from the most dedicated organisations and activists, including Committee to Protect Bloggers, The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Reporters without Borders, Human Rights Watch, CyberLaw Blog, Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists, Global Voices Advocacy.

Robert Fisk: America is performing its familiar role of propping up a dictator

Could there be a more accurate description of the Obama-Brown message of congratulations to the fraudulently elected Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan? First the Palestinians held fair elections in 2006, voted for Hamas and were brutally punished for it – they still are – and then the Iranians held fraudulent elections in June which put back the weird Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whom everyone outside Iran (and a lot inside) regard as a dictator. But now we have the venal, corrupt, sectarian Karzai in power after a poll far more ambitiously rigged than the Iranian version, and – yup, we love him dearly and accept his totally fraudulent election.

Syria: The best or the worst article ever?

Syrian bloggers frequently decry travel writing about their country - often it's too stereotypical, sometimes downright false. And for a country considered long “isolated” at least from the United States, it can be particularly frustrating to see such writing promoted as accurate. Therefore, when popular Syrian blogger Sasa, who pens the blog Syria News Wire spotted a recent piece in National Geographic that he deemed “the best article on Syria in a decade,” he just had to say something: This article is the real Syria. It is a checklist of points which Syrians know about their country, but which foreign journalists skip over, in the rush to confirm their own stereotypes.

New York Times 'within weeks of decision' on charging for online

One of the longest-running guessing games for New York Times insiders and observers may be nearing an end: will the paper charge again for content online and what form would a pay programme take? Now after months of deliberation, Executive editor Bill Keller tells public editor Clark Hoyt he guesses a decision is coming "within a matter of weeks." And yet it doesn't sound like he sees a straight path to that decision: "It's a much tougher, more complicated decision than it seems to all the armchair experts. There is no clear consensus on the right way to go."

Journalists encouraged to submit stories about change in the world

Journalists from around the world can submit videos, photos or short stories on what they seek to change in the world, to a contest being organized by Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW). Deadline: December 4. Stories can be about implementing greener environmental policy, improving education, or any other change. They can be submitted in Dutch, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Chinese or Arabic. The top prize is a one-week all expenses paid work placement program at RNW. Other prizes include a digital camera. The judging panel is composed of an international cast of journalists.